


Objects of Taste and Distinction

by SympatriCuckoo



Category: Dishonored (Video Game)
Genre: Animal Transformation, As in very short, Daud is so done with this shit, Fail!Bird!Corvo, Short One Shot, Thomas is like that laidback roommate who has to deal with weirdness but is secretely a troll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-15
Updated: 2016-01-15
Packaged: 2018-05-14 03:42:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5728360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SympatriCuckoo/pseuds/SympatriCuckoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daud has made many mistakes during his lifetime. Only a few end up truly haunting him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Objects of Taste and Distinction

**Author's Note:**

  * For [puppyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyblue/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Eyes Turned Skyward](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4662093) by [puppyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyblue/pseuds/puppyblue). 



> I told puppyblue that I would consider writing a fic detailing Daud's reaction to his Sokolov painting. It...didn't quite work. Daud plays his cards close to his chest and I can't see this one getting very far from him at all. 
> 
> Warnings: Meandering; Lackluster reactions; silly (possibly OOC) Corvo; rather abrupt ending (because otherwise it fell into crack)

Daud seldom left the base. Corvo wasn't sure what he was expecting (perhaps Daud running about on rooftops, Whalers trailing behind him like a pack of wolves, killing left and right), but Daud seemed content to give the orders, let Thomas and Rulfio and the other senior Whalers delegate tasks, and field acquisition orders.

 

From what Corvo's seen, Daud seemed to handle an upsetting amount of paperwork on a daily basis.

 

So, it was something of a surprise that, when Corvo awoke, Daud was nowhere in sight. A glance around with Void Gaze confirmed this, although Whalers were still posted as sentries, wandering the walkways in a random patrol pattern.

 

Grateful for the privacy, Corvo waddled and jumped onto Daud's bed and knocked over In the Company of Crows and Ravens. Corvo settled in to read, fluffed comfortably on Daud's pillow; perhaps the Academy of Natural Philosophy could provide some tips on flying. 

 

\---

The glass double doors slammed open, startling Corvo awake from dead sleep.

 

Before Corvo could even move to investigate, Daud appeared at the foot of his bed, tendrils of Void flickering around him in an almost perturbed manner.

 

Daud violently opened the lid of his chest, tossed a wrapped bundle inside, then closed and locked it in another violent movement. With a sigh, he rested both palms flat against the top of the chest, eyes closed as he gathered his (lost) composure.

 

Several deep breathes later, Daud looked up, locking eyes with Corvo and starting visibly. Emotions flitted rapidly over his face, starting and ending with amused annoyance.

 

He pointed a finger at Corvo, “You, off my pillow.”

 

\----

 

Daud didn't manage to reclaim his pillow. The dragged rasp of a foot sounded from downstairs and Daud vanished to his office.

 

Intrigued, Corvo starting walking to the foot of the bed, intent on making his (long and arduous) way downstairs as well.

 

A sudden shine in his peripheral vision stopped him. Perched on the chest, Corvo glanced down only to stare in shock. In disbelief, he moved his head left and right, double-checking with both eyes; Daud had left his key in the lock.

 

A desire for runes (so he didn't have to waddle places, and wasn't that mortifying) and to satiate a growing curiosity for what had Daud out and about and in an apparent tizzy had Corvo grasping the key with his beak. Turning the head of the key was painful – the metal cold and biting – and he had to keep pausing every few seconds to readjust his grip on the key.

 

The sounds of a debriefing drifted upstairs as Corvo (finally) unlocked the chest and sat back to figure out how to _open_ it.

 

“-but no guards and no expended ammo, so at least there was no great loss.”

 

“And what of the safe?”

 

“Empty. It appears as though someone hit the Bunting estate before us.” Corvo's attention shifted wholly to the conversation. Where had he heard that name before?

 

“Any other news to report, Thomas?”

 

“Only that Jenkins broke his arm.”

 

“...Dare I ask how he managed that in a vacant, _non-hostile_ area?”

 

“He tripped over a Tyvian burial urn.”

 

Oh! That's where! Corvo nodded. They had been in some odd places.

 

“...” Daud's silence seemed peeved.

 

“Did you find what you were looking for at Griff's?” Thomas asked.

 

“No,” said Daud, curtly.

 

 

“If you give me a description, I can tell the men to be on the look out for it.”

 

“That's none of your concern.”

 

“...Very well.” Thomas seemed to be resigned to Daud's bad mood. “I'll let Rinaldo know to report about the inland sweeps.” A pause, and then, hesitantly, “And if you need help disposing of your Sokolov portrait, let me know.”

 

There was a slight fwip of displaced air and then...nothing. Corvo ~~waddled~~ moved towards the stairs, chest at this point completely forgotten. Did Thomas just break Daud? Had Daud killed Thomas? Once Corvo would've gone 100% with the latter, but now he wasn't so sure. Thomas seemed completely loyal and not inclined to tell tales, and Daud seemed more the type to just grumble and snark in response.

 

Corvo looked over the edge of the staircase.

 

Daud was hunched over his desk, massaging his temples. “All of these goddamn assholes.”

**Author's Note:**

> Daud's reaction at the end taken from natagunn's Whalerween here:  
> natagunn.tumblr.com/post/65171604606/whalerween-welp
> 
> In the Company of Crows and Ravens is actually a book by John M. Marzluff and Tony Angell. It's geared towards an unornithological population that is still interested in things like corvid genetics, evolution and distribution. In short, I can see it being assigned as a primer at the Academy of Natural Philosophy in the ornithology department.


End file.
